Center for Multicultural Education

James A. Banks founded the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington in 1992 and currently serves as its director. The founding of the center resulted from several decades of research, writing, teaching, and course development that had been ongoing since Banks arrived at the University of Washington as an assistant professor of social studies education immediately after he received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1969. By 1992, the College of Education—under Banks's leadership—had developed a number of important initiatives related to diversity before the center was formally established; these included courses such as “Teaching Black Inner-City Youth,” “Educating Native American Youth,” and “Educating Ethnic Minority Students.”

Banks persuaded Allen D. Glenn, the dean of the College of Education, to establish the ...